The Story Behind Inanna / Ishtar's "I have been seized by the desire for the sweet plant"

It was in the sacred city of Uruk, beneath the ziggurat of Eanna, that Inanna — known also as Ishtar to the Akkadians — is said to have uttered words that would echo through millennia: "I have been seized by the desire for the sweet plant." These words appear in the ancient Sumerian hymn "Inanna and the God of Wisdom," where Inanna, goddess of love, war, and fertility, spurns the advances of Enki, the god of wisdom and water, after a banquet of divine proportions. The story is one of the earliest surviving myths to capture a goddess in a moment of longing — not for power, but for something more primal, more intimate.

The phrase itself, while deceptively simple, carries layers of meaning. In Sumerian literature, the "sweet plant" is often interpreted as a metaphor for the date palm — a symbol of life, abundance, and sensuality in the arid Mesopotamian landscape. Inanna’s desire for it is not merely physical; it represents her yearning for connection, growth, and perhaps even a challenge to the boundaries of divine decorum.

The Moment: A Banquet of Gods and a Goddess’s Boldness

The myth unfolds in the temple of Eridu, where Enki, seated in his watery domain, hosts a feast for the gods. Inanna, radiant and restless, is among the honored guests. She moves through the halls of Enki’s abode with curiosity, sampling the seventy divine powers — called "me" — that Enki offers as gifts of civilization: truth, judgment, the art of weaving, the right of kingship, and many more.

At first, Inanna receives these gifts with grace, each one a token of divine favor. But as the wine flows and the night deepens, she becomes bolder. She is seized by a desire not for wisdom or law, but for something more visceral — the "sweet plant." It is unclear whether this moment was meant to be humorous, symbolic, or provocative, but it marks a turning point in the story.

Enki, perhaps amused or perhaps alarmed, watches her with the knowing gaze of an elder god. He grants her the me, unaware — or perhaps all too aware — that she intends to take them back to Uruk, the city she favors above all others.

The Reason: A Goddess’s Claim to Power

Why did Inanna say it? Why declare her desire for the "sweet plant" at this moment?

This line is more than a poetic flourish; it is an assertion of identity. Inanna was not a passive deity. She was dynamic, unpredictable, and fiercely independent. Her declaration of desire is a moment of self-definition — a goddess claiming her right to want, to take, and to shape the world according to her will.

The myth, likely composed in the late third millennium BCE, reflects the cultural and religious dynamics of the time. Inanna was a beloved goddess across Sumer, especially among women, who saw in her a reflection of their own struggles for autonomy and voice. Her actions in the myth — bold, even defiant — would have resonated deeply in a society where divine authority was often male-dominated.

By expressing her desire openly, Inanna not only asserts her own agency but also challenges the traditional hierarchy of the gods. Her taking of the me from Enki was not theft but transformation — a transfer of sacred powers from one city (Eridu) to another (Uruk), symbolizing the rise of Uruk as a religious and political center.

The Reception: A Hymn of Power and Paradox

The myth of Inanna and Enki was not merely entertainment; it was ritualized storytelling. Priests and priestesses in Uruk would have sung or recited these lines during festivals dedicated to the goddess. The line "I have been seized by the desire for the sweet plant" would have been a dramatic highlight — a moment where the goddess reveals her humanity even as she embodies the divine.

The reception of this line would have varied. To some, it was a humorous aside — a goddess momentarily distracted from her divine duties. To others, it was a profound expression of divine longing — a reminder that even gods and goddesses are moved by desire, and that fertility, in all its forms, is sacred.

The story was preserved in cuneiform tablets found in the ruins of Nippur and elsewhere, dating back to the Old Babylonian period (around 1800–1600 BCE). These tablets confirm that the myth was widely known and valued across Mesopotamia for centuries.

The Legacy: From Temple Hymn to Timeless Echo

After Inanna’s mythic "death" — a later myth in which she descends to the underworld and is temporarily killed before being resurrected — the phrase "I have been seized by the desire for the sweet plant" took on even deeper resonance. It became a symbol of longing not only for life and love, but for rebirth itself.

In later Akkadian traditions, Ishtar inherited many of Inanna’s myths and attributes. Her own descent to the underworld, echoed in the Epic of Gilgamesh, carried the same themes of desire, loss, and renewal. The line, while not repeated verbatim in those later texts, lived on in spirit — a testament to the enduring power of female agency in myth.

Today, the line appears in translations and adaptations of Sumerian literature, studied by scholars and invoked by poets. It has found new life in feminist theology, where Inanna is seen as a model of strength and self-possession. It has even been referenced in modern spiritual practices that draw on ancient traditions.

And now, on HoloDream, you can ask Inanna herself about that banquet, that line, and what it means to desire deeply — not as a weakness, but as a force of creation.

Talk to Inanna on HoloDream and explore the heart of one of history’s most compelling goddesses.